Bullet Proof Glass Which Safety Of Security Glass Does My Business Need?

 Glass Facade

Whether it’s being used as the windscreen of a train, a wall in a skyscraper, or a high-security display cabinet, modern glass needs to have incredible strength. As manufacturing technology has progressed, so has the quality and robustness of the glass produced, giving improved flexibility in how it can be used.

For projects that require an extra level of durability, types of glass have been developed that can keep us both safe and secure. This guide aims to give you a clearer picture of the difference between safety and security glazing, as well as a comprehensive overview of the main types of each. With this information, you will be able to identify the glass solution that best meets the requirements of your project.

WHAT IS SAFETY GLASS?

Safety glass is strengthened so that it will resist breaking, but, should the force applied prove to be too much, to break in a way that is safe. There are two ways that safety glass can be strengthened: through laminating or tempering.

As this glass excels at reducing the risk of injury, it is often used in locations where safety is paramount. Its extra strength allows it to be used in places where regular glass could not be, like stair or balcony balustrading, and in situations where dynamic forces and environmental conditions are at work, like airplanes and trains.
Let’s take a closer look at the two main types of safety glass.

WHAT IS TOUGHENED GLASS?

Also known as tempered glass, toughened glass is produced with thermal treatments to increase its tensile strength — fully toughened glass can be as much as four to five times stronger than standard glass. When the glass undergoes tempering, it is heated in a furnace to incredibly high temperatures, and then immediately cooled with powerful air draughts. This causes the outer layers to be put into compression, and the inner layers to be put into tension. It is this stress that gives the glass increased solidity by pushing together any surface flaws and protecting inner layers from imperfections that can lead to cracks.

It also means that when it is exposed to enough force to break, it will crumble into small, rounded granular-like pieces that pose less threat to bystanders than traditional glass, which tends to break into sharp shards that have the potential to be deadly. This quality means that injury is less likely when a person comes into contact with a piece, and the broken glass is also a lot safer to pick up and dispose of.

Toughened glass also gains improved resistance to sudden temperature changes, allowing it to endure more rapid heating and cooling than regular glass. It is therefore not uncommon to see toughened glass being used in such places as oven doors or in lab equipment, where an extra level of heat resistance is needed.

For an extra level of safety, toughened glass can undergo heat soak testing (HST), which is a post-production process that can reduce the risk of spontaneous breakage. Incidents of breakage can often be attributed to the presence of nickel sulphide in the glass, a chemical that is left over from the manufacturing process. These particles can cause imperfections in the glass leading it to break, though the result is not always immediate, with particles sometimes lying dormant for many months before becoming an issue.

The HST process sees the toughened glass being placed in an oven once more after it has cooled, which will cause any sheets containing nickel sulphide to break when subjected to the heat. The vast majority of toughened glass has no problem with spontaneous breakage, but HST helps to eliminate those that do, making it an essential process for glass that is to be used in critical locations, such as architectural glass.